The present invention relates to breakaway safety systems for aquatic vessels, for example for boats, yachts and ships. Moreover, the present invention also concerns methods of protecting aquatic vessels from damage by using breakaway safety systems.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, there is shown an illustrative side view of a contemporary aquatic vessel indicated generally by 10. The aquatic vessel 10 is susceptible to being implemented, for example, as a yacht, ship or boat. The aquatic vessel 10 includes a hull 20. One or more engine assemblies 30 are mounted towards a rear end of the hull 20, wherein the one or more engine assemblies 30 are operable to provide motive power to propel the vessel 10 through water 40. Moreover, each of the one or more engine assemblies 30 include an extension 50 including one or more propellers 60 at substantially a distal end of the extension 50 remote from the hull 20. The extension 50 protrudes into the water 40 beneath the hull 20 when the aquatic vessel 10 is in operation. The one or more extensions 50 are potentially vulnerable regions of the vessel 10 in an event that the one or more extensions 50 impact onto submerged objects 70, for example submerged rocks, submerged harbour structures, ship wrecks and sunken components such as discarded oil rig components.
Contemporary yachts weigh in a range of 10 to 75 tonnes and are often equipped with two engine assemblies each delivering 250 kW output power or four engine assemblies each delivering 750 kW output power. Moreover, these contemporary yachts are operable to attain speeds in a range of 3 to 45 knots (circa 5 km/h to 80 km/h). In operation, these contemporary yachts are susceptible of having an operative kinetic energy approaching several MegaJoules. Such a large amount of kinetic energy focussed inappropriately in the aquatic vessel 10 is an impact situation is susceptible to causing considerable damage.
It is known to include sacrificial mechanical structures in the aquatic vessel which fracture in an emergency situation to try to prevent damage occurring to the hull 20 and a risk that the aquatic vessel 10 sinks in the water 40. However, these sacrificial structures, for example fractural “weak points” whereas stress is deliberately concentrated by design, are not optimal in that they do not appropriately protect the aquatic vessel in all sailing situations.
It is desirable to provide a breakaway safety system which better protects an aquatic vessel in an event of potential impact.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a breakaway safety system for a vessel, the vessel including
(a) at least one hull;
(b) one or more engine arrangements supported by the at least one hull; and
(c) one or more propeller extensions mounted to the at least one hull and coupled to receive motive power from the one or more engine arrangements in operation;
characterized in that the safety system includes:
one or more sensors mounted to the vessel for measuring operating parameters of the vessel and generating one or more corresponding input signals;
a control unit for receiving the one or more corresponding input signals, and for processing the one or more input signals to generate at least one control output (Q, A);
one or more fracturable regions for mounting the one or more propeller extensions to the at least one hull; and
one or more fracturing devices operable to fracture the one or more fracturable regions for jettisoning associated one or more propeller extensions in an event that the control unit detects a potentially hazardous impact event and activates its at least one control output (Q, A) accordingly.
The invention is of advantage that use of the one or more fracturing devices to separate the one or more propeller extensions in a controlled manner is capable of improving safety and reducing the at least one hull from becoming damaged.
Optionally, in the breakaway safety system, the one or more fracturing devices each includes an energy storage element, a piercing element operable to fracture its associated fracturable region when impacting thereinto, and wherein the energy storage element when activated is operable to apply a force to the piercing element to force it into the fracturable region to cause the fracturable region to fracture. Use of the energy storage element is beneficial in jettisoning the one or more propeller extensions more rapidly from the at least one hull in comparison to relying on unassisted fracturing of the one or more propeller extensions from the hull in direct response to excessive applied stress as employed in contemporary known solutions.
More optionally, in the breakaway safety system, the energy storage element includes at least one of: an explosive charge, a mechanical spring, a volume of compressed gas. Use of such energy storage elements is capable of providing considerable immediate energy for jettisoning the one or more propeller extensions from the at least one hull.
More optionally, in the breakaway safety system, the control unit is provided with the input signals from one or more of:
(a) a strain sensor mounted on the at least one hull of the vessel;
(b) a strain sensor mounted at the one or more fracturable regions;
(c) an engine revolution rate sensor operable to measure a rate of rotation of one or more engine arrangement of the vessel;
(d) a speed sensor operable to measure a speed of the vessel through water;
(e) an accelerometer mounted to the vessel, or to the extension thereof, for measuring acceleration and/or deceleration thereof;
(f) a turning rate sensor for measuring changes in angular orientation on the vessel; (g) a gear engagement sensor for measuring engagement of one or more drive gears of the vessel; and
(h) a sonar sensor for detecting a presence of one or more objects underneath, behind and/or in front of the vessel likely to present an impact hazard for the vessel when in operation. Any combination of these diverse sensors are susceptible to being employed depending on requirements.
Optionally, in the breakaway safety system, the control unit includes a data recorder for recording a sequence of the one or more input signals in a period prior to jettisoning the one or more propeller extensions from the hull. Use of such a data recorder is useful for determining whether or not the system has responded in an intended manner for avoiding damage to the at least one hull. Such information is relevant for insurance purposes for example.
Optionally, in the breakaway safety system, the fracturing device is operable to be disarmed when the vessel is in a stationary state in water, thereby preventing activation of the fracturing device when in the disarmed state. Such disarming of the piercing device is valuable for substantially preventing any risk of jettisoning one or more propeller extensions when the vessel is substantially stationary.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of providing a vessel with breakaway safety using a breakaway safety system, the vessel including
(a) at least one hull;
(b) one or more engine arrangements supported by the at least one hull; and
(c) one of more propeller extensions mounted to the at least one hull and coupled to receive motive power from the one or more engine arrangements in operation;
characterized in that the method includes steps of:
(d) mounting the one or more propeller extensions to the hull by one or more fracturable regions;
(e) arranging for one or more sensors mounted to the vessel to measure operating parameters of the vessel and to generate one or more corresponding input signals;
(f) arranging for a control unit to receive the one or more corresponding input signals, and to process the one or more input signals to generate at least one control output (Q, A); and
(g) using one or more fracturing devices to fracture the one or more fracturable regions for jettisoning associated one or more propeller extensions in an event that the control unit detects a potentially hazardous impact event and activates its at least one control output (Q, A) accordingly.
Optionally, the method includes steps of:
(h) arranging for the one or more fracturing devices to each include an energy storage element, a piercing element operable to fracture its associated fracturable region when impacting thereinto; and
(i) using the energy storage element when activated to apply a force to the piercing element to force it into the fracturable region to cause the fracturable region to fracture.
Optionally, when implementing the method, the energy storage element includes at least one of: an explosive charge, a mechanical spring, a volume of compressed gas.
Optionally, when implementing the method, the control unit is provided with the input signals from one or more of:
(a) a strain sensor mounted on the at least one hull of the vessel;
(b) a strain sensor mounted at the one or more fracturable regions; (c) an engine revolution rate sensor operable to measure a rate of rotation of one or more engine arrangements of the vessel;
(d) a speed sensor operable to measure a speed of the vessel through water;
(e) an accelerometer mounted to the vessel, or to the extension thereof, for measuring acceleration and/or deceleration thereof; (T) a turning rate sensor for measuring changes in angular orientation of the vessel or a portion thereof; (g) a gear engagement sensor for measuring engagement of one or more drive gears of the vessel; and(h) a sonar sensor for detecting a presence of one or more objects underneath, behind and/or in front of the vessel likely to present an impact hazard for the vessel when in operation.
Optionally, the method includes a step of:
(i) recording using a data recorder a sequence of the one or more input signals in a period prior to jettisoning the one or more propeller extensions from the at least one hull.
Optionally, the method includes a step of disarming the fracturing device when the vessel is in a stationary state in water, thereby preventing activation of the fracturing device when in the disarmed state.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a software product stored on data carrier, the software product being executable in computing hardware for implementing a method pursuant to the second aspect of the invention.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of protecting a hull of a vessel in an event of a potential impact, the vessel including one or more engine arrangements, and one of more propeller extensions coupled to the one or more engine arrangements for receiving motive power therefrom in operation, the method including steps of:
(a) detecting potential occurrence of an impact event which is susceptible to damaging the hull of the vessel; and
(b) jettisoning the one or more propeller extensions when potential occurrence of an impact event is detected.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an aquatic vessel equipped with a breakaway safety system pursuant to the first aspect of the invention.
Features of the invention are susceptible to being combined in any combination without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.